


The Little Things Give You Away

by ashinan



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-25
Updated: 2012-02-25
Packaged: 2017-10-31 17:25:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/346597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashinan/pseuds/ashinan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taking care of Tony isn't as difficult as Steve initially thought. It's a matter of learning his habits, mapping out his movements, and constructing individual plans on the fly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Little Things Give You Away

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the lovely [the-sub-text](http://the-sub-text.tumblr.com/) who wanted fluffy happy fic.

Taking care of Tony isn’t as difficult as Steve initially thought. It’s a matter of learning his habits, mapping out his movements, and constructing individual plans on the fly. Half the time Tony spends in the labs, the other half out with the Avengers, and sometimes, if Steve is very,  _very_  lucky, Tony will find his way upstairs, touch-starved and needy, and let Steve smother him in slick kisses and the easy glide of their bodies. And then he’ll sleep the day away and start up again.

After Steve figures out the best solution to fixing Tony’s sleeping issues, it comes down to tweaking the initial battle plan. After a mission, Tony will spend anywhere from sixteen to sixty three hours in the lab, except when Steve seeks him out and physically manhandles him upstairs. But when Steve is down in the lab, sitting on a stool or randomly doodling on the drawing program Tony built him, he starts introducing means of getting Tony to  _leave_ , usually of his own volition.

“Thor is thinking of hosting a Wii Bowling night. He wants you to join,” Steve starts. He already knows Tony’s answer but implanting the idea is always fun.

“Can’t,” Tony says, digging into the remnants of what looks like a Doombot. He pulls out three bolts and a silver cube. “Doom came up with this brand new slew of bots and did you  _see_  what they shot at the Hulk? Sure, it just pissed him off, but come on! That tech is way too advanced for Doom to even consider. Something’s up.”

“Tony.”

“And besides, you should ask Dummy. He has a thing for that Wii Fit board I bought years back,” Tony frowns, peering at the inside of the cube. “It was a tragedy when I got it; barely able to hold itself up or do anything that it was supposed to and after I tweaked it, got it to do what it was  _designed to do_ , Dummy decided to have an illicit affair with the damn thing. But he likes Wii Bowling and –”

“I was thinking we’d ditch it and have sex instead,” Steve says, just to see how Tony responds.

Tony talks right over him. “– with no way of winning without actively cheating and then Clint will stab you in the foot with a goddamn arrow and Natasha will somehow switch her Wiimote out for a knife and then we’re talking mass property damage because Bruce gets too excited and turns into the Hulk and the Hulk hates the Wii.” Blinking, Tony frowns. “Did you say something?”

“Yes,” Steve says, smiling softly. Tony waves a hand at him.

“Well, if you’re not going to elaborate I’m just going to try and reproduce what Doom apparently failed at doing, and if you need me, give me a shout. I’m sure I’ll need a break sometime.”

Steve nods and walks out the door, grinning to himself. Tony will subconsciously turn over the words Steve had said and in about two hours, he’ll come rushing upstairs, half unsure  _why_  and the other half knowing that it has something to do with Steve, a bed, and possible orgasms. Works every time.

It’s a different matter in trying to get him to eat. Steve brings the food down and Tony doesn’t really notice unless Steve literally shoves it into his hand, which gets Tony all twitchy for two reasons: one, because Tony doesn’t like to be handed things, _ever_ , and still hasn’t explained why to Steve; and two, it’s usually some form of pasta or ridiculous dish that Clint came up with on the fly, so sauce can drip onto Tony’s project at the time if he doesn’t grab the plate. Steve has learned that if there is an imminent threat to Tony’s work, he will actively seek to remove said threat. Which usually requires him eating it.

Learning the small quirks that Tony has become something of a game. Tony can talk for  _hours_  if someone is standing there and willing to listen, and he’ll throw on the façade that is Tony Stark if the Avengers decide to go out on the town for a day. It’s difficult for Steve to watch him then, to watch the fake smile stretch his lips or the way his voice turns condescending and airy. He’s usually more himself when they’re hidden away in the mansion, poking fun at Clint and creating new elements with Bruce and training with Natasha and battling with Thor on the gaming consoles. Tony is known for pushing himself beyond the realms of actual human means, and he doesn’t seem to realize that in the end, that is  _bad_.

But then Tony will surface from the lab with a new bow for Clint or brand new knives for Natasha, and the joy on his face when the others actively thank him breaks Steve’s heart. There’s something so fragile about his smile, the way he seems to be fighting with himself not to flee. And then he’ll disappear again, running downstairs with another idea, another possible helper, and bring out other genius inventions only when they’re perfect. The others are noticing more, and if Clint makes Tony’s favourite dish more often, or Bruce keeps Dummy entertained when Tony needs alone time, then it helps in the long run. Tony has started smiling more.

And after Tony has worked himself so hard, creating and engineering things that Steve would never have originally thought of, Steve will sneak downstairs and carefully gain Tony’s attention. And Tony will grin wearily at him, eyes sparking with genius, and it’s times like these that Steve will bundle Tony up, carry him upstairs, and take him apart only to put him back together again. And then Tony will try to escape back to the lab because he  _can_  and Steve will have to drag him back so he can actually sleep.

And he still has no idea that Steve is slowly but surely making time in his life for all the little things. 


End file.
